Darker Hero
by Freesia
Summary: Itachi/Sakura


Darker Hero

Chapter 1

Fate is Altered

A silent shadow slipped past my window, entering swiftly without a single sound. Judging from the small, lithe form of the shadow, the person to whom it belonged couldn't be more than a young teenager. Sneaking into a Kage's office without notice is a difficult task that if many could perform on a daily basis, a ninja village would have a hard time finding enough Kage's to last them through the year. Many would gawk and scoff at the idea of anyone making it into the Hokage's office without alerting the ever-watchful guards posted around that clock, especially a mere adolescent.

As if in opposition to everything realistic, soft footsteps stalked into the room, halting when the figure neared my cherry-wood desk.

"Hokage-sama.''

My ancient face tilted up to meet eyes of obsidian. Something about the persona and a certain hardness to his eyes belied the youthfulness of the ninja.

"Uchiha-kun. Pleased you could make it."

I smiled in irony. Surely, the skeptics had never met Uchiha Itachi.

"I apologize for calling you so soon after your last mission but it seems I have a new task for you."

OoOoOoOoOo

I remained stoic, awaiting the new orders. The last mission in particular was more taxing than most. Along with my exceptional skills as a shinobi, I also possessed an intelligent mind that understood politics. This has recently lead me to become somewhat of a representative spokesperson of Konoha, either because A.) Generally Konoha ninja lack the patience to deal with such tasks or B.) They didn't have the brain capacity to properly persuade anyone into submitting to the Hokage's will.

No, it was rather unpleasant to convince a relic of a man to consent to move his village after I carefully explained that in a few weeks' time, a nearby dam would break, and as a result the water would flood the town beyond repair. Even after I highlighted the fact that at best only 85 of the villagers would survive if they did not leave, the old man refused saying, "A little extra water will do us good. It's the dry season, you know."

I wouldn't be exaggerating to say I wasn't eagerly looking forward to my next chance to play negotiator.

"Come with me."

The Hokage lifted himself from his desk, the chair making a sickly creaking noise, and strolled over to one of the far windows in his office, while I trailed behind a pace or two. The window overlooked the ninja training academy, and the students went about to complete their activity.

The Hokage pointed to a single figure.

"That is your next assignment, Uchiha-kun."

I followed the finger and my eyes locked on the target. All of the students seemed to be busy doing something, except her, who in all actuality didn't seem to be doing much of anything. The most striking think I noticed was that she had pink hair. I couldn't see much else of her face as her body was hunched over, hiding anything else that might be revealed. Though the other children weren't a great distance away, I could see that she was isolated.

I snatched my eyes back to his face in a look he would know as questioning.

"Her name is Sakura. I want you to meet her and form a connection."

I looked away, far from pleased. I refocused my line of vision on the little girl with unordinary pink hair. Closely surveying the child that looked no older than my little brother, I couldn't find anything special that would prompt the Hokage to ask that I acquaint myself with a toddler.

"I believe you will benefit from this as well, Itachi. Both of you will."

The Hokage sighed, glancing back to the academy students before staring deeply into my dark eyes, conveying he was about to say something of importance. The look beseeched me to understand.

"Sakura has no confidence. I expect that she could become a capable ninja in the future, but now she is on the verge of giving up the life of a shinobi. You see, Sakura is a shy girl and is having problems with being bullied."

He looked at me expectantly, wanting me to use my genius brain to make the right deduction.

Unfortuneatly, genius or not, I wasn't a mind reader, I had the innate ability to see through lies, predict a person's actions and foresee events, but I could not think of anything that would tie myself to the girl.

"You want me to give her instruction on how to prevent bullying?" No one had ever picked on the genius of the Uchiha clan for a good reason, but with the application of the proper intimidation techniques, no one would pick on the pink-haired child for years to come.

The Third sighed and his ancient, wrinkled face drooped, indicating I hadn't come up with the answer he was looking for.

"The prevalent impression Sakura has of ninja is not an ideal picture. She is picked on and taunted mercilessly and that is all she knows. I believe an encounter with you will give her insight that not all apprentice ninja will always be immature children that need to pick on others to reassure themselves. Especially if the person she meets is older, it might strengthen her resolve that if she holds out the phase will pass."

"And how do I benefit from this, Hokage-sama?"

Not that I could refuse any order from the Hokage, but he did say that I would gain something in return.

"Itachi, you are a Chunin, mastered the Sharingan, and have broken more records than I care to remember. It's possibly you will be the youngest child ever inducted into the ANBU, yet sometimes we all forget that you are still a child yourself."

Child? I hadn't been referred to that since I had been promoted to Chunin two years ago. By my father's standards I was a young man as soon as I could simultaneously walk and hold a shuriken.

"You're not even a teenager and already you must bare more responsibility than some twice your age, it is not normal for one so young. You need to have contact with people, not just for missions, briefings, meetings, or any of the hardships that come with being the heir of the Uchiha clan. She needs a friend and you need a taste of normality."

"A friendship between an eight year old and a twelve year old is considered normal?"

"Sakura is an intelligent child. If you no longer wish to see her after speaking with her once, I will persist no longer. However, it is my personal belief that a strong connection will be born from the two of you."

I gave an inaudible sigh, thinking it was better just to get this type of thing over with quickly and continue on with my life. At least the Hokage gave me the option of discontinuing the 'mission' if she didn't interest me.

I shifted my gaze back to the window. Even after the dismissal bell had rung, and the other children filtered off to return to their homes, she still remained, huddled in the grass.

OoOoOoOoOo

Luckily for me, the girl hadn't strayed from her spot when I slipped out of the Hokage's office the same way I had entered. It would have been even more of a burden if I had waste precious time tracking the girl as well.

Intentionally trying to break the stealth that unconsciously cloaked my body, I moved closer, allowing her to hear my steps as I approached. It wouldn't do to give the girl a heart attack of surprise, besides, I hardly think the Hokage would classify the child fainting before I could manage a word as a conversation.

She looked even frailer and small up close than she had when I had seen her from the window. She stiffened noticeably as I stopped in front of her, beginning to lightly tremble. Green eyes, I finally knew the color, glanced up at me quickly for a moment, before darting away and staring at the ground.

At the time, I don't think I've ever seen a child look more miserable and dejected.

"Your name…is it Sakura?"

A slightly pitiful opening, of course I already knew what her name was, but I had to speak to her somehow and get the ball rolling.

Instead of a verbal response, the child answered by biting her lip and giving a brief nod, still not rising to meet my eyes. A fraction of a smirk inched its way unto my face, my amusing thought being that many ninja refused to meet my eyes on many occasions because of the Sharingan, but Sakura couldn't know this, and her actions, I knew, were carried out for completely different reasons.

Although the child clearly had acknowledged my presence with by going rigid and shaking, she refused to so much as take peeks in my direction. Feeling as if speaking anymore would be futile, and perhaps partly because there was nothing I truly cared to say to her, I sat in the grass beside her.

Our showdown of silence extended for minutes and minutes. By the time I figured I had wasted fifteen minutes, my mind had already drifted off to more important issues. Such as my order to return back to that senile old man and help him move his village to escape the terror of the flood. If my senses had been any less acute, I would have missed her timid voice altogether.

"Aren't you going to make fun of me?" She questioned softly, her eyes still staring holes into the blades of grass and dirt.

"Should I?"

She curled her fingers into fists, biting her lips harshly and screwing her eyes shut, as if to block out something terrible.

"It's the only reason…people ever talk to me," she whispered, voice straining to remain whole, fists now grasping tightly on the grass.

"What do they say?" My voice was cleverly neutral.

"T-they say my forehead's too big…"

Her eyes opened a pinch as she regarded me to watch my reaction. I leaned closer to examine the reason to which the child was deemed an outcast. She closed her eyes again; unable to take my examination anymore, convinced I would come to the same conclusion as her peers. Even her bangs couldn't hide her from my scrutiny.

I looked closely, no scars, no obvious birthmarks, and no third eye. The forehead did appear to be a little larger than average, but it was nothing that should have caused such jests, most likely the child would even grow into it as she aged. It was an evil truth that children could turn the most insignificant things and blow them out of proportion in order to alienate other children. In truth, I thought her brightly colored pink hair would be the reason for the attack.

What I did next was something that came naturally; I flicked her forehead, as I so often did to Sasuke. Her eyes shot open in surprise.

"I don't see anything wrong with it."

The pink haired child looked at me disbelievingly in amazement, trying to wonder if I had really said that or if she was simply hearing something she so desperately wanted to hear. Doubt was etched into her features.

But I said nothing else, no jokes or prods that would sting now more than ever before because her hopes were beginning to rise. Intentionally or not, her shield faded slowly and she began to relax until she was no longer shaking and some of the stiffness had evaporated from her shoulders.

We had reached that awkward pause again, where neither of us was willing to say anything. Mercifully, before the silence could stretch out, a hawk cawed up above and released its grip from a scroll.

I caught it deftly in one hand, and began to unravel it. There was a child in my year that used birds as the Inuzuka clan used dogs. Thanks to that, I had learned all the mannerisms of the birds that were usually privy to jounin alone, as a secret way of passing information.

It was as I had predicted, a letter from a teammate asking for my advice. More accurately, she described the clues she had found during the mission, but was unable to come up with a strong choice of action.

The mission wasn't complicated; they were sent to exterminate a bear that had been terrorizing a village. Only when they tracked it down it had entered the refuge of its cave, and the bear was too ferocious to take head on without heavy casualties to the team. Already they had staked out for two days waiting for the bear to pop out because of hunger or another necessity, waiting for their chance to strike, but the bear seemed to have other ideas. According to the letter, every inch of the perimeter had been searched; the cave only had one entrance, one way in, and one way out. Now it seems they were at a loss of what to do, and thus, sought out my help.

The girl seemed intrigued by the scroll, and cautiously began to sneak closer. Curiosity driving her, she peeked over my arm to see the contents. I saw no danger in her looking; it wasn't a top-secret mission where everything was to remain classified after all. If nothing else, she was coming out of her shell for one reason or another.

"Explosive tags," she said innocently. Then looking shocked that she had spoken aloud, she tensed, waiting for a reprimand of some kind.

I was shocked too, but for different reasons. This kind of problem wasn't something given in academy type classes, it should have been beyond the range of even a genin and some dense chunin. More startling, was that she and I had come to the same deduction.

"Explosive tags," I confirmed.

She smiled tentatively, testing the waters. The green eyes looked back to the scroll before saying, "I knew they must give harder problems like that to the higher academy classes."

Did she just-? She did.

"Sakura…I'm a chunin," I said with mild amusement.

She gasped in horror.

"W-what? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect…y-you don't look any older than the upcoming graduating class…" she fumbled with the words.

"It's alright, I take no offense. Technically, I am the same age as the next graduating class."

OoOoOoOoOo

I shivered when I heard the approaching crunch of footsteps. Wasn't everyone from the academy supposed to have gone home already? Was the temptation for one last snide remark too much to resist? I tried to look as invisible as possible, but as I had feared, the footsteps stopped right in front of me.

"Your name…is it Sakura?"

I nodded slightly, not daring to look up at figure. Maybe if I ignored him, he would leave me alone and go away. It had never worked before but…

I had already resigned myself to suffering another round of insults today and unknowingly; my body began to shake automatically. I prepared and waited for the snubbing remarks…but nothing came.

I tensed again as the body sat beside me, but still the silence continued. Why wasn't he making fun of me? Isn't that what he came for? No one in my class ever talked to me unless it was about my hideously gigantic forehead. No one ever felt the need to speak with me otherwise. When faced with the two, I would choose to be ignored any day of the week.

"Aren't you going to make fun of me?" I asked in desperation, finding the behavior strange and uncomfortable, all the while still not finding the courage to meet his eyes.

"Should I?" The voice asked.

I clenched my eyes shut in pain, eyes beginning to moisten with tears.

"It's the only reason…people ever talk to me." I somehow managed to answer without my voice cracking.

"What do they say?" The tone wasn't cruel or sadistic, just an honest question,

"T-they say my f-forehead's too big…"

Out of the corner of my eye I saw him turn and inspect the part of me I wished I could bury forever, instinctively trying to hide behind my bangs. Still no harsh remarks were made, and it seemed like it was taking a longer time than usual for the fact that my forehead was a monster to sink in.

I opened my eyes to see if he was still there, or had just deserted me, and upon seeing him still giving me an examination, twisted my eyes shut again. What happened next wasn't expected at all, I felt a finger poke my forehead, and then retreat.

"I don't see anything wrong with it."

My eyes snapped open in bewilderment; no one had ever said that before. Was he teasing me? I looked into the dark black eyes, and was relieved to find no hidden antagonism. Or was it a trick and I hadn't figured it out yet?

Before I had time to decide, a hawk make a shrieking sound, and a scroll descended from the sky, which my companion caught almost lazily, with a flick of his wrist.

Now that he was preoccupied reading whatever it was in the scroll, I took the chance to look at the stranger. He had black hair that was longer than most boys preferred it to be, tied into a low ponytail in the back. Unemotional, matching black eyes read over the scroll quickly and with full concentration. He was obviously older, his mannerisms, height, and built making that a dead giveaway. I estimated that he was around 12-13, the approximate age of the soon-to-be graduating class.

One thing was for sure; he was an all-around different type of boy from the ones I knew.

I had finished my analysis on him, but he was still pondering over the scroll. I began to grow curious and slowly inched over. Hesitantly, and obviously enough that if he wanted too, he could have easily shielded the contents away from my prying eyes, but because he made no move to hide it, I figured he wouldn't mind if I took a quick peek.

It seemed to be a mission scroll, probably a what-to-do shinobi type of problem that tries to make you guess the next best course of action. As I read over the scroll, I noticed it was much lengthier and in-depth than the ones used in my class. Well, I had assumed he was approaching graduation soon; it was only logical that they would get harder problems, after all.

If a straight-on, full-out attack couldn't be made, then the only choice was to operate at a different angle. In this situation the best thing to do would be to take the bear in surprise and attack it from multiple directions. The cave prevented that from happening…so the obvious choice was to eliminate the cave. To do that would require…explosive tags.

Gleefully, in my moment of triumph at deciphering the answer, I accidentally let it slip off my tongue.

I looked at him fearfully, expecting some kind of rebuke. It wasn't my place to advise an upperclassman, and I was so stupid to do it to the one person who didn't hate me automatically.

"Explosive tags," the voice confirmed, smoothly, and completely without irritation.

I smiled shyly, wondering if I was allowed to do that, but he didn't seem to mind. Thinking I should say something, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"I knew they must give harder problems like that to the higher academy classes."

His eyes held a brief flicker of confusion before it was quickly hidden again. I wondered what was wrong until he said, "Sakura…I'm a chunin."

I gaped like a fish out of water. Well that explained a lot, like why he was so mature, and-and not like the others…and there I had to go and insult him!

"W-what? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect…y-you don't look any older than the upcoming graduating class…" I tried to take back some of the damage I had just done, pathetically.

"It's alright, I take no offense. Technically, I am the same age as the next graduating class," the dark haired boy said humbly.

"I'm sorry," I apologized again, a small blush rising to my cheeks, my heart pounding with happiness that I hadn't chased off the only person who was kind to me.

"It's not a big deal. More importantly, I heard you were going to quit the academy?"

I looked away again, feeling that I should be ashamed for some reason. Ashamed that I couldn't make it as a ninja. I chanced looking up at him, he hadn't spoken a harsh word yet, and I was beginning to believe, maybe stupidly, that he wasn't going to yell at me out of the blue. Already, I was beginning to place trust in him.

"I don't think it's the right future for me…my classmates don't like me…and I'm far behind in my classes as well. I'm no good at it…" I said sadly, but with the conviction of truth.

The older boy paused and looked at me intently, a considering look upon his aristocratic face, and I wondered what he was thinking.

"Tell you what, meet me at the seventeenth training grounds after you get out of the academy tomorrow. Will you be able to do that?"

Meet him at training grounds? Alone? Granted we were alone now, but…I was suddenly nervous. I realized he was a stranger, mommy had warned me about getting to close to them, but…

"I don't even know your name," I said weakly.

"Itachi," he answered simply.

"Itachi," I repeated, liking the sound.

'Itachi…you may be a stranger now, but you won't be for long…'

End of the first chapter. Hey everyone, this is my first ever Naruto fic, which centers mostly around Itachi and Sakura. This is a semi-au fic, with me altering a few things here and there. As far as I can see into it now, there will be three arcs. Questions and comments would be appreciated, as I'd like to see if this story seems to be complete crap or not. I actually am rather proud of it…but maybe that's just me.

A side note, Itachi is currently at the age of twelve, and Sakura is eight. Itachi is technically five years older, but Sakura's birthday is in March, and Itachi's birthday is in June, so the story starts off somewhere between those months to make the story fit. For those of you who haven't memorized Itachi's timeline, he joins ANBU at the age of 13, so he's still not quite involved in it, yet.

Thanks for reading!

Oh, if anyone's up for it, I also need an editor, so if anyone is capable of editing this story's future chapters, please let me know!


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